03/03: Interviewing the Yankees Blogosphere: Cliff Corcoran, Bronx Banter
Posted by: Patrick
Our next interview is with Cliff Corcoran of the very popular Bronx Banter.
When you're not blogging about the Yankees, thinking about the Yankees, talking about the Yankees, reading about the Yankees or watching the Yankees, what are you doing?
Apologizing to my fiancée. But seriously, folks... listening to music, watching movies (both of which I do almost as intensely and thoroughly as I follow the Yankees), working my day job as a book editor. Eating, sleeping. You know.
How long have you been blogging about the Yankees?
I started Clifford's Big Red Blog in August 2003 and moved over to Bronx Banter in March 2005.
Besides your own, what are your favorite Yankees blogs?
Steve Goldman's columns were a tremendous influence on me, so his Pinstriped Blog on YESNetwork.com has to head up my list. Jay Jaffe's The Futility Infielder doesn't really qualify as a Yankee blog per se as he spends as much time on the Dodgers and baseball in general, but he and Alex Belth inspired me to start blogging in the first place and Jay's writing is uniformly excellent. I make sure to check out all of the Yankee blogs on the Bronx Banter sidebar regularly throughout the regular season, but those two would have to be my favorites.
What are some of your earliest memories of the Yankees?
Did you grow up rooting for the Yanks? Was your Dad or someone in your family influential in making sure you pulled for the Yankees?
I'll take these two together. I'm an only child and never had a friend or older relative who really influenced me to follow sports. That said, my grandfathers on both sides were Yankee fans dating back to Ruth (and possibly before in the case of my maternal grandfather, who was born in New York in 1907). As a result my family is full of Yankee fans and, despite not following baseball as a tot, the only baseball cap I owned for many years was a Yankee cap. I have some vague memory of thinking Reggie Jackson and Goose Gossage were gods back in the early ‘80s and have a fondness for Graig Nettles' fielding that I know didn't come from watching him play, but predates my awareness of Yankee history.
In my one year in little league, I forsook all of the aluminum bats for the lone wooden one because it was black with a white stripe, just like the one Reggie used. Exactly how I knew Reggie used a bat like that remains a mystery to me. In my eight year old mind, the Yankees were more a mysterious symbol of excellence and dominance to me than an active baseball team.
A big MTV addict as a tyke, I became curious about those Super Bowl Shufflin' Bears and started following sports in earnest after flipping past the NFC Championship game between the Bears and Rams. Super Bowl XX was the first non-Olympic sporting event I watched all the way through, that was less than a month before my dad moved out. I never really put it together before, but sports provided me with distraction and excitement during my parents' divorce and, though he's not really a sports fan at all, gave my dad and I something special to do together (he wasn't so much into "Three's Company" reruns or professional wrestling).
After Super Bowl XX came the excitement of the 1986 Mets. That year I pretended I could root for both New York baseball and football teams and the first baseball game I ever attended was a late season Mets' game at the Vet with my dad. But once the thrill of the Mets' World Series victory wore off I gave the Mets and Jets the boot and focused all of my energy on the soon to be World Champion Giants and my true sporting passion: New York Yankees Baseball.
Who is your all-time - past or present - favorite Yankee and why?
Dave Winfield was my man as a kid. He was right handed and an outfielder, like me, and was an absolute monster. It seemed that it only took him three strides to get from one base to the next, his throwing arm was amazing, he always swung from his heels. He managed to have style, but also play the game as hard as it could be played. It didn't hurt that I got a 1985 Topps Winfield in the first pack of baseball cards I ever bought or that he used the same type of black bat that Reggie had used.
Do you admire anyone (doesn't need to be a player) in the Yankee organization?
Certainly Bob Sheppard, who is all about class, style and accuracy, and is a living part of Yankee history. I also admire his respect for language and the fact that he's a teacher. From what I can tell, Joe Torre is a good person and a fantastic manager of people, primarily because he seems to value honesty above all else. I admire Brian Cashman for using his free agency status to take control of a ridiculous situation, though I'm not sure I admire the fact that he put up with that situation as long as he did. I admire Don Mattingly for being good at everything he's ever done and, again from what I can tell, being a good and honest person.
In your wildest dreams, what position would you like to play for the Yankees and why?
I love strong armed, power hitting right fielders (Reggie, Winfield, O'Neill, Sheffield) and in my wildest dreams, I would be one of those. Second to that, I'd like to be a third basemen who can really pick it (Nettles, Pagliarulo, Brosius) and would love to be able to put on a show at the hot corner. In reality, if I had the skills, my height would limit me to middle infield. I have little doubt that had I actually made the major leagues, I would have been the sort of speedy, overrated [scrappy] Caucasian we analytical types tend to gripe about, a dirty uniform guy who "made things happen." That said, even in little league, I worked the count and took my walks.
How often do you make it to the stadium to see a game?
I have a Sunday season ticket package in the right field bleachers, so about 15 times a year, give or take playoffs and conflict/invites from friends.
Should Bob Sheppard have a place in the Hall of Fame?
Yes.
Of any retired former Yankee that is not in the Hall of Fame already, who is the one that most deserves to be?
Goose Gossage. Though Joe Gordon deserves mention here as well.
What do you think of the moves that the Yankees have made this offseason?
That's actually a post I'm likely to write in the coming weeks, so I'll play it close to the vest here. [Note: in the time between when this interview was published and when it was received, the piece was published.] I'm disappointed that they didn't sign Piazza, but otherwise I think Cashman has done very well given his options. The only real mistake he has made was re-signing Bernie, much as I hate to say that. What's gone somewhat unnoticed is that the Yankees have helped themselves tremendously by cutting ties with the majority of their dead weight from last year.
What do you think we'll see from Chacon and Wang this season?
Chacon could turn back into a pumpkin, or he could continue to impress. Hard to say, but you have to expect some regression there. The question is, how much. I'm cautiously optimistic, though that's more the fan in me speaking than the analyst. My optimism is based on watching him when he had his curve working and from what I considered to be a surprising performance in his first playoff game (doesn't hurt that I was in the stands for that one). I was very much against the Yankees acquiring Chacon in the first place. Here's hoping he teaches me a lesson about the sea level potential of Colorado curveballers.
Wang's strikeout rate is troubling and his reliance on his defense bit him in the rear in each of his final two starts last year (against the Red Sox and in the ALDS). His injury history is also problematic, but his quick return to both action and effectiveness from what the Yankees feared was a season ending injury was encouraging. What's more, Wang's K-rates in the minors were solid, so one could reasonably expect some improvement in that area in his sophomore season. Overall, I'm very high on Wang. He's not an ace in the making, but he should be a solid number three for a long time, provided his shoulder holds up.
Of current Yankees, if the sky is dark and the mountain high and you need someone to make something happen, who do you want at the plate?
I suppose it depends on the situation, but if it's a backs against the wall situation, I'll take Sheffield.
When you're not blogging about the Yankees, thinking about the Yankees, talking about the Yankees, reading about the Yankees or watching the Yankees, what are you doing?
Apologizing to my fiancée. But seriously, folks... listening to music, watching movies (both of which I do almost as intensely and thoroughly as I follow the Yankees), working my day job as a book editor. Eating, sleeping. You know.
How long have you been blogging about the Yankees?
I started Clifford's Big Red Blog in August 2003 and moved over to Bronx Banter in March 2005.
Besides your own, what are your favorite Yankees blogs?
Steve Goldman's columns were a tremendous influence on me, so his Pinstriped Blog on YESNetwork.com has to head up my list. Jay Jaffe's The Futility Infielder doesn't really qualify as a Yankee blog per se as he spends as much time on the Dodgers and baseball in general, but he and Alex Belth inspired me to start blogging in the first place and Jay's writing is uniformly excellent. I make sure to check out all of the Yankee blogs on the Bronx Banter sidebar regularly throughout the regular season, but those two would have to be my favorites.
What are some of your earliest memories of the Yankees?
Did you grow up rooting for the Yanks? Was your Dad or someone in your family influential in making sure you pulled for the Yankees?
I'll take these two together. I'm an only child and never had a friend or older relative who really influenced me to follow sports. That said, my grandfathers on both sides were Yankee fans dating back to Ruth (and possibly before in the case of my maternal grandfather, who was born in New York in 1907). As a result my family is full of Yankee fans and, despite not following baseball as a tot, the only baseball cap I owned for many years was a Yankee cap. I have some vague memory of thinking Reggie Jackson and Goose Gossage were gods back in the early ‘80s and have a fondness for Graig Nettles' fielding that I know didn't come from watching him play, but predates my awareness of Yankee history.
In my one year in little league, I forsook all of the aluminum bats for the lone wooden one because it was black with a white stripe, just like the one Reggie used. Exactly how I knew Reggie used a bat like that remains a mystery to me. In my eight year old mind, the Yankees were more a mysterious symbol of excellence and dominance to me than an active baseball team.
A big MTV addict as a tyke, I became curious about those Super Bowl Shufflin' Bears and started following sports in earnest after flipping past the NFC Championship game between the Bears and Rams. Super Bowl XX was the first non-Olympic sporting event I watched all the way through, that was less than a month before my dad moved out. I never really put it together before, but sports provided me with distraction and excitement during my parents' divorce and, though he's not really a sports fan at all, gave my dad and I something special to do together (he wasn't so much into "Three's Company" reruns or professional wrestling).
After Super Bowl XX came the excitement of the 1986 Mets. That year I pretended I could root for both New York baseball and football teams and the first baseball game I ever attended was a late season Mets' game at the Vet with my dad. But once the thrill of the Mets' World Series victory wore off I gave the Mets and Jets the boot and focused all of my energy on the soon to be World Champion Giants and my true sporting passion: New York Yankees Baseball.
Who is your all-time - past or present - favorite Yankee and why?
Dave Winfield was my man as a kid. He was right handed and an outfielder, like me, and was an absolute monster. It seemed that it only took him three strides to get from one base to the next, his throwing arm was amazing, he always swung from his heels. He managed to have style, but also play the game as hard as it could be played. It didn't hurt that I got a 1985 Topps Winfield in the first pack of baseball cards I ever bought or that he used the same type of black bat that Reggie had used.
Do you admire anyone (doesn't need to be a player) in the Yankee organization?
Certainly Bob Sheppard, who is all about class, style and accuracy, and is a living part of Yankee history. I also admire his respect for language and the fact that he's a teacher. From what I can tell, Joe Torre is a good person and a fantastic manager of people, primarily because he seems to value honesty above all else. I admire Brian Cashman for using his free agency status to take control of a ridiculous situation, though I'm not sure I admire the fact that he put up with that situation as long as he did. I admire Don Mattingly for being good at everything he's ever done and, again from what I can tell, being a good and honest person.
In your wildest dreams, what position would you like to play for the Yankees and why?
I love strong armed, power hitting right fielders (Reggie, Winfield, O'Neill, Sheffield) and in my wildest dreams, I would be one of those. Second to that, I'd like to be a third basemen who can really pick it (Nettles, Pagliarulo, Brosius) and would love to be able to put on a show at the hot corner. In reality, if I had the skills, my height would limit me to middle infield. I have little doubt that had I actually made the major leagues, I would have been the sort of speedy, overrated [scrappy] Caucasian we analytical types tend to gripe about, a dirty uniform guy who "made things happen." That said, even in little league, I worked the count and took my walks.
How often do you make it to the stadium to see a game?
I have a Sunday season ticket package in the right field bleachers, so about 15 times a year, give or take playoffs and conflict/invites from friends.
Should Bob Sheppard have a place in the Hall of Fame?
Yes.
Of any retired former Yankee that is not in the Hall of Fame already, who is the one that most deserves to be?
Goose Gossage. Though Joe Gordon deserves mention here as well.
What do you think of the moves that the Yankees have made this offseason?
That's actually a post I'm likely to write in the coming weeks, so I'll play it close to the vest here. [Note: in the time between when this interview was published and when it was received, the piece was published.] I'm disappointed that they didn't sign Piazza, but otherwise I think Cashman has done very well given his options. The only real mistake he has made was re-signing Bernie, much as I hate to say that. What's gone somewhat unnoticed is that the Yankees have helped themselves tremendously by cutting ties with the majority of their dead weight from last year.
What do you think we'll see from Chacon and Wang this season?
Chacon could turn back into a pumpkin, or he could continue to impress. Hard to say, but you have to expect some regression there. The question is, how much. I'm cautiously optimistic, though that's more the fan in me speaking than the analyst. My optimism is based on watching him when he had his curve working and from what I considered to be a surprising performance in his first playoff game (doesn't hurt that I was in the stands for that one). I was very much against the Yankees acquiring Chacon in the first place. Here's hoping he teaches me a lesson about the sea level potential of Colorado curveballers.
Wang's strikeout rate is troubling and his reliance on his defense bit him in the rear in each of his final two starts last year (against the Red Sox and in the ALDS). His injury history is also problematic, but his quick return to both action and effectiveness from what the Yankees feared was a season ending injury was encouraging. What's more, Wang's K-rates in the minors were solid, so one could reasonably expect some improvement in that area in his sophomore season. Overall, I'm very high on Wang. He's not an ace in the making, but he should be a solid number three for a long time, provided his shoulder holds up.
Of current Yankees, if the sky is dark and the mountain high and you need someone to make something happen, who do you want at the plate?
I suppose it depends on the situation, but if it's a backs against the wall situation, I'll take Sheffield.
